Book Review: The Fields of Home

Kessie warned me this was a tough read. She is one of my sweet blogging friends and has read the entire series of Ralph Moody biographical books. She was right. 


This one picked up where Mary Emma and Company left off. Ralph had to leave Boston because the "city rules" were broken one too many times. Having grown up in the wide expanses of rural Colorado, working on ranches and being expected to do a man's work at ten years old, the transition to living in a neighborhood in a city like Boston caused conflict at every turn. In a rapidly unfolding series of events, he found himself being shipped off to live with his maternal grandfather, Thomas, a crotchety old man in his seventies who was trying to work the family farm by himself. 


Ralph, who was lovingly raised and trained up by his parents and several bosses from his many jobs, was ill prepared to deal with his grandfather. When he arrived, Thomas instantly started in on him. He called Ralph a fool at every turn, and nothing Ralph did was good enough. Having been treated like a man for several years already, this was a hard pill to swallow. 


Thomas was violently opposed to any modern convenience, even screens on the windows to keep the flies out of the house. He didn't want to do anything any differently than his father had done before him. Ralph's great grandfather had been 72 when Thomas was born. Thomas had learned everything he knew about farming from his father, who had carved this farm out of the wilderness of Maine before there was a United States of America. To him, any changes or "improvements" would have been sacrilegious. Ralph, who was extremely gifted in the area of engineering and inventing, couldn't understand why his attempts to help his grandfather by inventing machines that could make the hardest jobs easier, was so angrily rejected. Thomas didn't just stop at belittling and verbally abusing Ralph, he would smash and break things. 


Not until late in the telling do we gain perspective on the demons Thomas was battling. As it turned out, it all came down to Thomas' belief that he was failing in the trust his father had handed down to him: to take care of the farm. When Ralph and his great uncle, Levi, finally came to understand this, everything changed. They were able to help the poor old man recognize the battle and understand that Ralph was going to help him achieve his heart's desire. 


The last few chapters tell of the total transformation of Thomas' heart and the farm. He finally recognized the blessing that Ralph was and that new tools and machines were. During the roughest times, Ralph had actually hidden things from his grandfather, things like a hay rake and a stone rake that he built out of parts of this and that he found around the farm. He felt he had no choice because he couldn't manage all the work by himself. 


After Thomas began to soften, they started working on the "wilderness field." This field was the true test of his trust. It had been cleared years before, but after his father died and everyone else left the farm, the wild had crept back into this field and taken it over. They had just begun to clear it when Ralph had to stop and help with the road clearing to pay part of the taxes. It was while working on the road crew that he learned about dynamite. He decided that if he could just use some dynamite to clear out the stumps, they might actually be able to clear the wilderness field before the frost set in. 


Normally, when Ralph tried something "new," Thomas would pitch a wall-eyed fit. So when the dynamite went off before Thomas was out of ear shot, Ralph expected to face his grandfather's wrath once again. Instead, and as a true testament to the depth of the heart change that had taken place, Thomas embraced the idea of dynamite and actually hired a man to come and blast all the stumps and boulders out of the field. 


From that point on, all of the pain and hurt and loneliness begins to be redeemed. Thomas, who finally believed he had fulfilled the trust his father placed in him, was able to bless his grandson. The floodgates opened and the fruit, literally and figuratively, was gathered in by the bushel. 


Wow! What a story! What a beautiful, precious story of redemption! And what a reminder of the importance of spoken blessings! This fits in so well with what the Lord has been speaking to me this year. 


This is #23 in my quest for 52 books in 52 weeks. I am very behind. Oh well. It's a busy season in our lives and I'll just keep chipping away at this project.  We'll see how it sifts out come December. :)

Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks